AILA President’s message
Susan Vidler

Ron Shorter Award expands

Young professionals in Queensland now have the opportunity to participate in the annual Ron Shorter Memorial Award for Public Speaking.

The competition for young professionals across all insurance industry disciplines has operated in NSW since 2012, expanded to Victoria last year, and is now available in Queensland.

Ron Shorter was a loss adjuster, liability claims supervisor, claims manager and legal practice manager. Throughout his career, he inspired and mentored many young professionals.

Before his February 2012 death, Ron had conceptualised the competition and the inaugural award was presented in July 2012.

CBP Lawyers and Unisearch are the award sponsors.

To apply, prepare a summary of no more than 250 words explaining why you would benefit from public speaking coaching and a one-line description of the topic you would speak on if selected.

Applications open on Wednesday 24 February. Email your submission to office@aila.com.au.

Each state’s successful applicants will attend public speaking workshops with Polaris Coaching in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, after which applicants will deliver two-minute presentations on their nominated topics to a panel of judges. Three finalists will be selected from each state.

The finalists will attend a second coaching session before participating in their state final, at which each will speak for 15 minutes on their topic to an audience of industry professionals. They will be judged by senior insurance personnel.

Each state’s winner receives a Ron Shorter Trophy, a $500 Westfield EFTPOS card, flights, accommodation and registration for the 2016 AILA National Conference in Adelaide and the opportunity to speak publicly on their selected topic during the conference.

Runners up each receive $250 Westfield EFTPOS cards.

The benefits of participating are:
• building confidence and the skills to speak publicly;
• networking with peers and colleagues;
• developing your brand in the insurance industry;
• building your company/firm's brand in the industry; and
• the prizes.

I urge all young professionals to consider nominating and participating in this exciting initiative.

New Association Secretariat

AILA has streamlined its administration by appointing a single secretariat for the entire organisation.

This will be more efficient than having separate secretariats across the states and territories and will deliver greater consistencies and improved communication.

Contact details are:
Association Secretariat: Q2M Pty Ltd (Vickie Saccaro and Elizabeth Lim)
A: PO Box 4295 BURWOOD EAST VIC 3151
P: 1300 699 140
E: office@aila.com.au

On behalf of the board and AILA members I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the many years of service and support the outgoing state-based secretariats have provided to our branches. As an association run by volunteers we rely heavily on our external administrative support. Their loyalty to AILA is commended and we acknowledge their contribution to the growth and success of the association.

Steadfast participation

In 2015, AILA, for the first time, was an exhibitor at the annual Steadfast conference in Adelaide.

This year the conference is in Brisbane from 16 to 19 April and AILA will again exhibit.

The aim is to generate greater awareness of AILA and its offerings within the broker community and to forge closer ties with the larger Steadfast cluster group. With almost 2,000 delegates expected to attend, it is a great opportunity for AILA representatives to meet brokers face to face and promote what we offer in the insurance law education arena.

Geoff Masel Memorial Lecture series

Queensland Supreme Court Justice Martin Daubney will present the 2016 Geoff Masel Memorial Lectures.

The title is: Whatever happened to Atticus Finch? Reflections on contemporary issues in legal professional ethics

Justice Daubney will examine national and international trends in the field of legal professional ethics, with particular focus on issues arising in insurance litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Justice Daubney has been on the Queensland Supreme Court bench since 2007.

From mid-April through to June, he will present the lecture at AILA chapters around the nation. Dates will be on the website soon.

Federal Court streamlines hearings

Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop has introduced an insurance hearing list to reduce “full-blown” trials for “short insurance matters”.
CJ Allsop will preside over the initial hearings in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide in March and April. He said the list was part of the court’s commitment to “flexible, efficient, cost-effective dispute resolution mechanisms” in matters that needed minimal judicial involvement. The first hearings would focus on disputes that involved policy and legislative interpretation.

Helicopter crash case back in court

The NSW Appeal Court has resumed a hearing into a helicopter crash that catastrophically injured a passenger after the negligent parties could not agree on apportioning damages.

The case was the cover story in the September 2015 issue of Resolve.

Energy Australia line inspector Simeon Edwards was seriously injured when the helicopter in which he was flying to conduct aerial inspections of power lines struck a Telstra cable and crashed on 4 April 2006. NSW Supreme Court Justice Anthony Johnson awarded Edwards $16 million and found Precision Helicopters and Endeavour Energy equally responsible. He cleared Telstra of negligence.

But Appeal Court Justices Ronald Sackville, John Basten and Robert Macfarlan found Telstra should take some responsibility. On 19 November, the Appeal Court reconvened and found Endeavour should bear 60% liability, while Telstra and Precision should share the balance, paying 20% each.

The court ruled Precision’s damages were limited to $500,000 under the NSW Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act and agreed with a Telstra submission that Endeavour and Telstra should share the remainder of Edwards’s damages. (Endeavour Energy v Precision Helicopters Pty Ltd (No 2) [2015] NSWCA 357, 19/11/15)

Mark your diaries

AILA will co-host a regional conference in Singapore on 19-21 September 2017. Simon Goh, head insurance and reinsurance partner at Rajah Tann Asia in Singapore is the conference chair. That means the national conference scheduled for Perth in 2017 will now be held in 2018.

Melbourne has won the right to host the AIDA World Congress in 2022.

Unisearch article

In this issue, Resolve introduces a new feature, a link to an article provided by AILA sponsor Unisearch. I hope you enjoy the first article on the role of legal advisers in providing expert reports. Use the link from the home page to access the article.

SuperStream targets legal industry

The Australian Taxation Office has asked AILA to remind small business owners with 19 or fewer employees they need to start paying superannuation contributions and sending member information electronically through SuperStream.

The new, streamlined process, which came into effect last 1 July, provides a consistent and simplified way for employers to make super contributions on behalf of their employees.

Under SuperStream, those responsible for paying super contributions can pay super to multiple funds through one channel – saving time and money.

More than 350,000 employers nationwide, including about 250,000 small employers, have already made the switch. The deadline for compliance is 30 June 2016.

Click here for an ATO step-by-step checklist to help employers prepare.